As part of our Daily Life series at ReVive International, it’s important that we give you all an insight into the work of some of our staff members so you guys have a better idea of what goes on here! Having already written about our psychologist Erika, it’s now time to introduce you to our social worker Iúle.

Iúle has been with us for two years and plays a very important part in our technical team. The purpose of her work here at ReVive International is to act as an agent between the girls, their families and the social services, to defend their basic rights to have access to education, healthcare etc, and to eventually reintroduce them back into a family home.

When a girl first arrives at the Revive house, Iúle immediately arranges a meeting either alongside or separate from our psychologist Erika, another ‘getting to know you’ session to establish trust. The purpose of this meeting is also so that Iúle can listen to the girl and to find out about the abuse she has suffered. Eventually the girl will give a full account of her life leading up to and during the mistreatment, which is useful for Iúle to help her in the case. After this initial discussion Iúle will write a ‘relatório’, a report about what she has heard and send it to the judge for him to read and keep for the girl’s case. She will then commence with collecting necessary documents such as birth certificates, identification cards and CPF numbers. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to even get hold of these basic documents and Iúle can end up going to the aggressor’s house, the person who has abused the girl in order to find what she is looking for. Once these have been found, Iúle will then begin the search for a school. As mentioned in a previous blog post, we have a number of local schools that the girls attend but often it can be difficult to find space for them. In some cases, Iúle has to request an order from the judge, so the school has to accept them.

As well as this, Iúle will set up medical check-ups with the doctor, dentist and organise an initial home visit to the home of the girl’s family in order to understand the situation she comes from and discover possible family that the girl could return to live with. During the girl’s time at ReVive, Iúle will continue to do as many home visits and set up as many meetings with her that she thinks is necessary. To do this she works closely with our psychologists, exchanging information so that they will be able to decide which way is best to move forward with the girl’s situation.

When speaking with Iúle about the best and worst parts of her job, she explains that she enjoys the domestic visits to the girl’s family the most and taking time out to sit and chat with the girls whilst she is at the ReVive house. The part that Iúle most dislikes about her work is understandably the impunity enjoyed by abusers of the ReVive girls, that they’re often not punished for the crimes that they commit. However, the team is currently on the trail of one of the biggest offenders in probably the worst case we have involving a girl at ReVive, so hopefully this will change in the future!

Finally, when the time comes for a girl to return to her own family, Iúle will arrange a final home visit. Usually the girl will have started staying with the family on the weekend and so Iúle will be making sure that the girl is settled and provided for. There is usually final hearing where the judge rules for that particular girl to be sent to the appropriate family, and she will usually be taken there on the same day.

I hope that this short profile gives you all more of an insight into another member of staff and makes you feel more included in the family of ReVive, which includes all of you who support us as well. Stay tuned for the next post coming soon!